By Gary Hatigeva
THE Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has concluded all its hearings into the 2018 Supplementary Appropriation Bill 2017 and the 2016 Supplementary Appropriation Bill after two days of intense scrutiny.
The Supplementary Bill was seeking parliament’s approval for a total of $119,416,051 from the consolidated funds, to meet additional service costs of the government for the year ending December 31, 2018.
A total of nine government ministries made submissions under the Supplementary Appropriation Bill, most of which were for outstanding matters including government bills, arrears, land settlement payments, and purchase of machines and equipment.
Other matters include additional support to cater for entitlements through terminal grants for Members of Parliament, and medical expenses, so as other government administrative costs.
As scheduled, the following Government Ministries appeared before the Committee on Wednesday, November 13, includes the Ministry of Finance and Treasury, Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, the National Parliament Office, the Ministry of Rural Development, and the of Infrastructure Development.
Yesterday, the following Ministries also made their appearances before the PAC, and they included the Lands, Housing and Survey, the Ministry of Health and Medical Services, the Ministry of Communication and Aviation, the Ministry of Environment, and the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs/ National Judiciary.
The Parliamentary PAC will now work on compiling its report on the SAB 2018 (2), but with expected high notation of recommendations to be made, and this is according to the Chairman of the Committee, who continuously highlighted this during the course of the hearing.
The Accounts Committee will also be setting focus on the main budget bill, the 2019 Appropriation Bill 2018.
Meanwhile, Parliament stands adjourned and is expected to resume on Tuesday, November 28, 2018, where the house is also expected to debate both financial bills.
